Determinations of the Mind
by tishtash221
Summary: The team is unexpectedly ambushed on an away mission. The captors try and get information from Rodney. Rodney whump, Mckeller.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**; "Stargate" and all characters property of MGM

**Rating**; T but will probably go up to M

**Setting**; after The Shrine but before Brainstorm, small references to The Shrine, Trio

**Summary**; The team is unexpectedly ambushed on an away mission, Rodney is tortured. Rodney whump, Mckeller.

A/N This is my first ever story, so apologies for any mistakes. Any feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks to the Mckeller thread on Gateworld for getting me into Rodney whump, and unwittingly inspiring me.

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**Chapter 1**

Rodney walked into the gate room, getting ready for the latest trip off world. It was just supposed to be a straightforward mission to meet the locals. Maybe it would be relaxing he thought, you never know, It might even go as planned for a change. Zelenka had been driving him nuts with his incompetence in the lab, he had to go and do it all himself and sort out the mess created lately. The other scientist seemed to have taken a step backwards somehow. It would be nice to leave that behind for a few days despite the screw ups he would have to deal with upon his return. Actually maybe going on this mission wasn't such a good idea. There would probably be a mountain of work on his return if the last week was anything to go by.

As he walked in he spotted Dr Keller with the rest of the team. "I wasn't expecting to see you here Jennifer," he remarked feeling mildly excited at her presence.

As she looked round and smiled he noticed how beautiful she was, seeming to radiate warmth from her entire being. "Apparently there's an illness traveling round one of the villages, so I've come along to see if I can be of any assistance to the locals. Plus getting to spend some time in peaceful surroundings with some warm sunny weather to look forward to, well I couldn't miss out on that. It will be a nice break from Atlantis, plus I get to spend time with you guys, which is always a bonus" she replied with a twinkle in her eye before walking over to Sheppard.

Well it definitely won't be so bad, getting to spend some more time with Jennifer was something he couldn't complain about. Going could definitely be a good thing, if he would be in close proximity to her. Though he was sure Sheppard would make some stupid remark about the two of them, he couldn't figure out why John kept trying to interfere. Rodney knew he would be able to deal with anything if she was nearby, it was just a shame she didn't know it. Maybe one day he'd tell her how he felt, but he really didn't deserve anyone as perfect as that wonderful woman, so probably not. Chances were she didn't even think about him when he wasn't right in front of her. Sure she'd worked tirelessly to save his life when he'd gotten that parasite stuck in his head, even going against everyone else from what he'd heard. Plus there had been that time where she'd invited him out for a drink after they'd gotten stuck in that stupid cavern. That didn't mean a thing though, she was probably just doing her job and being friendly. Rodney realised he'd become a little wrapped in his thoughts when he noticed that the rest of the team were about to walk through the gate.

"Hey wait up, no need to run off without me, I need to keep my strength up for the rest of the trip," he yelled whilst attempting to reach them.

"Maybe if you spent as much time exercising as you do moaning then you wouldn't have to keep your strength up, the rest of us can cope just fine," retorted Ronon.

Rodney muttered under his breath before stepping through the gate. He couldn't believe he was being made fun out of by Ronon, the guy who only grunted or hit things. This could be a very long trip.

* * *

As they were walking towards the village Rodney realised he had forgotten to bring his sunscreen. He couldn't believe it, he was going to get burnt, his body couldn't take much more. At this rate he was going to end up getting some horrible illness caused by all the radiation he had endured during his time on Atlantis, he was probably already sterile by this point. Why had he come on this mission, when he should be getting onto Zelenka. Knowing Rodney's luck, his number two had probably wrecked his latest research by now. Surely it couldn't be much further to the village could it? They seemed to have been travelling for ages.

"How much further, my complexion can't take much more. I'm not built for journeys like this, we should have taken the jumper"

"Well I can see your not built for it, maybe you should take Ronon's advice. You certainly seem to have put on a few pounds lately. Ever consider that the exercise might do you some good, and not just the muscles in your mouth," Sheppard replied with a smirk.

Rodney glared at him whilst Teyla responded, "It is not far to the village, just past these trees then we shall arrive. You will be able to take a rest then Rodney."

"Hey I'm sure there'll be some technology for you to study when we get there, you might have fun," Jennifer spoke with a smile.

Rodney smiled back, feeling a fluttering in his stomach. She was still being kind to him despite his incessant moaning. Maybe he ought to reconsider asking her for a drink sometime, there was always the slight possibility she might say yes. He took to glaring at John again. "At least some people can give a decent response, no need to be mean. And I have not put on a few pounds," he moaned as he stomped off ahead of the group.

Figuring it would be wise to calm down before going back to the others, he decided to take a look at his monitor, see if there was anything interesting showing up nearby. As he looked at it he was surprised to see a strange energy reading. The scientist in him decided to walk over and take a look to see what it was, though as he looked up, realised that he was quite a way from everyone else, and thought it better to go get the others and not let his curiosity get the better of him. He tended to not have the best luck in situations like this. Before he got back however, there was a loud noise and a scream nearby. Seeing that Jennifer had been shot, he got ready to run over. It looked like they had been ambushed , but before he had the chance to go and help her he saw something coming towards him. Every fibre in his being was terrified, but not just for himself, but for her and the rest of the team. The last thing he thought was what the hell was going on before everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Rodney began to rouse. He could hear voices coming from somewhere, but couldn't quite make out what they were saying, they felt muffled and almost dreamlike. He tried to open his eyes but as light poured into them he felt intense pain shoot through his head. He tried to figure out what was going on, what the last thing to happen was before he blacked out, then he recalled the ambush that had occurred. Realising he must have been captured Rodney attempted to talk, but his mouth did not want to cooperate, well there was a first time for everything. As sensation began returning to he body, he felt the rope which bound his wrists behind his back. Well he'd definitely been captured then. Pain slowly started to coarse through his body, whoever these people were, they definitely weren't to bothered about whether or not he got injured in the process. They hadn't killed him yet though which was a positive, although the scientist was sure he could list many more negatives.

As he attempted to open his eyes for a second time, a voice spoke, "Well it's nice to finally meet you Rodney McKay of Atlantis, I believe? We've heard many stories of your people and have been searching you out for quite some time."

He looked but realised he was unable to see anything , as he was being blinded by light, "How did you know that? Who are you? And where the rest of the people I was with?" Rodney began to get very agitated and feared the worst. He recalled Jennifer being shot and couldn't help but fear for her, he had no idea how badly she had been hurt, let alone whether or not she was still alive.

The voice began to speak again, "There are many stories about you and the rest of your kind from Atlantis, we have been building up information on you all in our quest to find you. Who we are is none of your concern, neither is the rest of your group. It is your own well being that you should be concerned about for the moment. We require some assistance, and realised that your people were unlikely to give it to us willingly, so we decided that our best course of action was to bring you here somewhat more forcibly." Whomever this person was, they were very calm and collected, but other than that Rodney could discern nothing about them.

"Nice to know that I'm appreciated within the galaxy, although much as I'm enjoying all this flattery, what makes you think that I would help you?" Rodney replied with a sneer. Suddenly there was a sharp pain on the side of his face. Well that certainly hadn't helped his headache, maybe sarcasm wasn't the best way to talk to these people. He didn't care though, his thoughts were just on Jennifer. Why had he left the rest of the team, maybe he could have protected her, or possibly have even avoided any of this occurring in the first place.

"Was that an incentive for you? We can certainly do a lot more damage than that, we have many methods for getting people to do as we ask. Anyway we have acquired some ancient technology, however it is currently not functioning correctly, and as you have the expertise, we require you to fix it for us." The man behind the voice had become temporarily agitated by Rodney, before becoming calm again.

In an attempt to figure out what was going on , the scientist decided he should try and appear at least a little cooperative, "Well as much as all the stories you've heard about me are probably true, I can't fix something I haven't even seen yet. And I won't necessarily be able to fix it even then, even I have my limits, brilliant as I am." Even in a situation like this Rodney couldn't help but be a little arrogant, it seemed it was ingrained into him no matter how hard people tried to change him.

The voice yelled, " Jerome, bring the equipment here right away," and Rodney heard some scurrying.

I few moments he heard Jerome return with the technology. They placed it in front of him and untied the rope which bound his hands together, as well as moving the light enabling him to be able to see once more. He felt something like a knife being pressed against the side of his throat, as the voice threatened, " One attempt at anything stupid, and I won't hesitate to use it."

Rodney felt himself tense up as fear shot through him like a jolt of electricity. Deciding it was wise to listen to his captors, he began to take in his surroundings whilst waiting for his eyes to gain proper focus. He saw that he was in a dark stone room with a large metal door which was currently open. It reminded him of an old war bunker, having a similar feel inside to one he had visited as a child. From what he could see there was nothing else in the room. His eyes caught focus of the piece of technology in front of him. He stood up to look and noticed that it resembled a satellite, and to the side of it was a control panel. It looked quite worn as if it had been sitting disused and neglected for some time. He began to study the control panel which he saw was on, and saw that all of it was written in ancient. He began to translate in his mind and read through the specs which he had managed to find. After a few moments of reading he suddenly came to realise what this technology was.

He began yelling, " You cannot seriously expect me to fix this! This is a weapon designed for mass destruction, it has the capability to cause massive destruction to a planet. You were right about my people not wanting to help, we don't go around wiping people out!" Scared as he was he knew that he had to go against this, and put others before himself for a change.

At that moment Rodney was grabbed from behind and shoved hard into the wall causing him to be winded. He again felt the knife on his cheek before the voice returned, "You are in no position to tell us what you are not going to do. You will do it, no matter what it takes, and just to show I'm serious…" His captor pressed the knife into his cheek, drawing blood and causing Rodney to yell out in pain, before continuing, "Take him away to his cell."

Some form of sack was yanked over his head before he was roughly pulled along by whom he could only assume was Jerome. As they walked he began contemplating what he was going to do. Fear coursed through him, and wondered how he was going to get through this. He really needed John there right now, he'd be able to sort them out and come up with a master plan, but by himself he was screwed.

Before he knew it they had stopped walking. He heard the door open, before the sack was pulled off his head. Rodney was shoved hard into the room, tripping, and heard the door slam shut before hitting his head on something solid and blacking out once again.

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A/N-Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, and those on the Mckeller thread for helping me out. Reviews are more than welcome, I am looking to improve my writing so feel free to make suggestions. I will be away for the next week so it will probably be a couple of weeks before there is another update.


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